Thank you for registering to receive electronic communications from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's (KDHE) Pollution Prevention and Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs. KDHE is pleased to publish this Winter/Spring issue of Kansas Environmental News. We encourage you to share the newsletter with co-workers and friends to assist us in developing the e-mail contact list. Simply click the "Forward Email" button at the bottom of the page.

If you have any comments or recommendations on how to improve the e-Newsletter, feel free to e-mail Melissa Hammond at mhammond@kdheks.gov.

Via Christi Health is committed to becoming a leader in energy and resource efficiency in health care. To accomplish this goal, the energy management team at Via Christi's Wichita hospitals proactively looks for opportunities to reduce energy consumption at its campuses and, with help from the Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Intern Program, has explored numerous energy efficiency projects over the past seven years.

One of those projects was to retrofit existing exterior lighting at its two largest hospitals, Via Christi Hospital on St Francis and Via Christi Hospital on Harry. Collectively these sites had more than 600 light fixtures illuminating parking lots and garages, walkways, doorways, and décor with metal-halide and high-pressure sodium light.

Since May 2012, Via Christi has spent nearly $500,000 to retrofit these lamps with high-efficiency light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, resulting in a lighting system that provides more light with less energy input. Because replacing parking lot lights requires costly specialized equipment and stricter safety protocols, changing to a lighting system with a longer life will help reduce maintenance costs. With an approximate $90,000 per year savings in energy costs and labor, the project is expected to pay for itself in five and a half years.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) offer Pollution Prevention Awards annually to businesses, industries and organizations who have made a significant improvement in protecting our environment by preventing pollution. This annual award program recognizes projects that eliminate or reduce the generation of pollutants or wastes at the source or projects that conserve natural resources.

Applications must be received by June 21, 2013 to be considered. Don't miss the opportunity to obtain recogition for all your hard work!

Using best management practices (BMPs) to reduce emissions can lead to great cost savings, improved worker safety, and opportunities for businesses to achieve more with less. Most solvents are high in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that directly contribute to the formation of harmful ozone. Ozone levels in several parts of our state, especially the Wichita five-county metro and Kansas City areas, are creating a public health concern. As a community, if we don't take proactive steps to reduce these emissions, our state and businesses may be faced with regulatory controls.

If you haven't already, you can make process changes and use sound administrative controls to minimize solvent loss. Look around your shop, and if you are not already employing these controls, consider one or two that might work best for you.

Minimize solvent use

Determine how clean is clean and establish guidelines to avoid excess cleaning.

In a plant setting, issue predetermined solvent quantities to technicians and track its use by different technicians. This can help identify high solvent needs or overuse.

Keep tight-fitting lids on virgin solvent containers or solvent baths when not in use to avoid loss due to evaporation. Use plunger or dauber cans that release metered amounts of solvent on rags, instead of squeeze bottles or solvent buckets.

Change the material

Many companies are looking for low- or non-HAP, and low-VOC-emitting solvents. Several alternatives and blends are available depending on your cleaning needs. Contact your vendor or the Small Business Environmental Assistance Program at SBEAP@ksu.edufor personal assistance identifying alternatives.

Close the loop

Many companies reduce raw material costs through solvent distillation and recycling. In some cases, 70% or more of dirty solvent can be reclaimed for reuse. There are special waste generator tracking rules, so be sure to review the guidance at http://www.kdheks.gov/waste/techguide/hw-2011-G3.pdf.

What you don't manage may be managing you. Considering the economic and environmental costs of using solvent, it is worth taking the time to review your practices for improvements. For more information on solvent management contact SBEAP or review the SBEAP fact sheet at www.sbeap.org/publications/Solvent_management.pdf.

KDHE to Host Annual WORKS! Conference

The WORKS! Conference will be held March 26 -27 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Manhattan, Kansas. The conference will feature sessions dealing with waste reduction, beneficial use, energy from waste, composting and household hazardous wastes. A special focus will be on safety issues as they relate to many of these topics. The Kansas Organization of Recyclers' will host a golf tournament on Monday, March 25 at Colbert Hills prior the event. Speakers include Mike Strickland, Environmental Health and Safety Manager for Sherwin Williams, Tim Boswell, Safety Engineer, Westar Energy. Invited for the opening keynote presentation Tuesday morning is Coach Bill Snyder, head coach of the Kansas State University Football Program.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn firsthand from a large offering of experts in their related fields as well as a great opportunity for exhibitors to display before a targeted audience.

Does your facility operate under a Class I or Class II air operating permit but you don't really understand what your permit requirements are? Do you just file your permit away and never look at it again?

On May 15, 2013, the Kansas Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP) will host a Permit Awareness Webinar that explains air operating permit requirements in plain language that small businesses can understand. The Webinar will break down individual components of the permit, provide linkages to regulatory citations and required KDHE forms, and explain the requirements in an

easy-to-understand format. SBEAP will conduct one Webinar at 10:00 a.m. for Class I air operating permits and at 1:00 p.m. for Class II air operating permits.

Are you a small business that has questions regarding compliance with environmental regulations or permits? Don't hesitate to call Kansas State University's Small Business Environmental Assistance Program for free, confidential technical assistance! Simply call 800-578-8898 or visit www.sbeap.org.